Newsweek: ‘Public Support for Gun Control at a Record Low’

On December 12, Newsweek reacted to a recent PEW Research Center Poll by saying, “public support for gun control is at a record low.”

The magazine went on to explain that even with the anniversary of the heinous attack on Sandy Hook Elementary just around the corner, Americans are not looking to government for more gun control but for protection of gun rights.

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According to Newsweek, after the attack on Sandy Hook, “President Obama signed a series of executive orders aimed at combating gun violence and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers crafted a law to make sure more people purchasing guns first undergo a background check.” But the new law failed to pass. And although Newsweek does not say so, the law’s author–Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV)–admitted it would not have stopped another Sandy Hook from taking place.

And now PEW shows that Americans are done with gun control. “52 percent” of Americans say the focus ought to be on protecting gun rights, while only “46 percent” say the government should focus on gun control instead.

Newsweek ends its column by quoting an Associated Press story that claims “there are nine guns for every 10 people” and that “someone is killed by a gun every 16 minutes.” They do not mention the 2012 Congressional Research Service (CRS) study showing the murder rate plummeted as private gun ownership exploded in this country.

Breitbart News previously reported the CRS study showing that while privately-owned guns jumped from 192 million in 1994 to 310 million in 2009, the “firearm-related murder and non-negligent homicide” rate fell from 6.6 per 100,000 to 3.6 per 100,000.